Growth in "new" vegetarian preschool children using the Jenss-Bayley curve fitting technique.

Length and weight measurements obtained on 142 vegetarian and 229 nonvegetarian school children from a normative population were fitted to growth curves using the asymptotic nonlinear regression equation of Jenss and Bayley. All of the children were Caucasian and age ranged from a few weeks to 6 yr. The growth curves obtained for vegetarian children were from 0.5 to 1.0 kg and 1 to 2 cm lower, depending on age, sex, and diet, than were curves for reference populations of nonvegetarian children. Length was affected more than weight. Macrobiotic vegetarian children's curves were more depressed than those of the other vegetarian children, indicating that there was a good deal of heterogeneity in growth within vegetarians which was associated with dietary group characteristics. Measurements of females were more consistently affected than males, and their diets were also more far reaching with respect to animal food avoidances. The analysis of food records available provided evidence that energy intakes of the vegetarians were below recommended levels, whereas protein intakes did not appear to be limiting.

Physical growth: National Center for Health Statistics percentiles.

Anthropometry is an effective and frequently performed child health and nutrition screening procedure. The value of physical growth data depends on their accuracy and reliability, how they are recorded and interpreted, and what follow-up efforts are made after identification of growth abnormality. The new National Center for Health Statistics percentiles can be used to improve identification of potential health and nutritional problems and to facilitate the epidemological comparison of one group of children with others.

Nutritional supplementation, maternal education, and cognitive development of infants at risk of malnutrition.

Infants born to families at risk of malnutrition were studied prospectively from the beginning of the 3rd trimester of the mother's pregnancy until the child reached 3 yr of age to ascertain the effects of nutritional supplementation and/or a maternal education program on their cognitive development. Four hundred thirty-three families were assigned randomly to six groups: group A served as a control; group B received the supplement from the age of 6 months to 3 yr; group C received the supplement during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and the first 6 months of the child's life; and group D received the supplement throughout the entire study period. In addition, group A1 was enrolled in a maternal education program but received no nutritional supplement and group B1 received both treatments. The Griffiths test of infant development was administered at 4, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months of age, and the Corman-Escalona Einstein scale was administered at each age up to 18 months. Children who received food supplementation performed better than those who did not, especially on subtests that were primarily motoric. The effect of food supplementation on behavior appeared to be contemporaneous. In addition, the treatment effects were more pronounced for girls than for boys in this sample. Although these interventions reduced the gap in cognitive performance between lower and upper socioeconomic classes, a disparity nevertheless remained by the end of the study.

Velocities of growth in vegetarian preschool children.

The growth velocities (weight and length) of vegetarian preschool children were compared to norms established from the Harvard growth study. At first measurement vegetarian subjects weighed less and were shorter than expected from Harvard standards. Growth velocities of children under 2 years of age were depressed, while among those over the age of 2 growth velocities were generally comparable to Harvard norms. Vegetarian boys over age 2 exhibited a higher mean weight velocity. Macrobiotics' mean weight and length velocities were not significantly different from those of nonmacrobiotics before age 2. However, the mean weight velocity of macrobiotics over age 2 was significantly greater than the mean weight velocity of nonmacrobiotics over 2 years. Low growth velocities of vegetarian children are more apparent in infants under the age of 2. When breast-feeding, possibly inadequate supplemental feeding may be present past 6 months of age. Since it is then that the velocities are more likely to be depressed, this may be the most appropriate time for surveillance and possible intervention.

Growth charts for children with Down syndrome: 1 month to 18 years of age.

Centile charts for assessment of stature and weight reflecting expected deficient size and growth rate of home-reared children with Down syndrome are presented for two age intervals, 1 to 36 months and 2 to 18 years, based on 4650 observations on 730 children. Data were pooled and used to estimate five centiles which were smoothed using a flexible mathematical function. These data corroborate other studies of growth in children with Down syndrome demonstrating deficient growth rate throughout the growing period, but most marked in infancy and again at adolescence. Children with Down syndrome in the present sample were taller than those from institutionalized samples at all ages throughout the growing period. Children with moderate or severe congenital heart disease on average were 1.5 to 2.0 cm shorter and about 1 kg lighter than those without or with only mild disease. Mean weight and weight divided by stature squared show that children with Down syndrome have a tendency to be overweight beginning in late infancy and throughout the remainder of the growing years.

Air pollution and human health: a review and reanalysis.

Since 1970, Lave and Seskin have published a series of articles dealing with the question, "Does air pollution shorten lives?" Their recent book reports revised and extended analyses of their previous studies emphasizing policy implications. We have undertaken a review of Lave and Seskin's book to evaluate the methodology used and hence gain some insight into the strength of the conclusions reached. This review concentrates on methodology and its application to establishing and quantifying the association between air quality and health. Beyond simply reviewing the analyses reported in Lave and Seskin's book, we have duplicated and expanded two of the reported analyses. Our detailed reanalysis is presented both to verify reported results, and to illustrate the difficulties encountered in such an analysis. Our overall conclusion is that Lave and Seskin have done a thorouth job of reporting and interpreting the various analyses that they performed. Lave and Seskin have made a pioneering effort in showing an association between mortality rates and air pollution. We do not disagree with the conclusion of the existence of an association but have some reservations about their methods of estimating its magnitude. We were particularly concerned that Lave and Seskin did not fully investigate how well their models fit these data. Our reanalysis results in estimated effects which differ considerably from the values reported by Lave and Seskin. Thus, we conclude that the regression coefficients are quite unstable and so must be used with care. Assessing the relative costs and benefits of reducing air pollution without extensive sensitivity analysis could, therefore, be misleading.

Size, obesity, and leanness in vegetarian preschool children.

Alterations in a series of anthropometric measurements taken on 142 vegetarian preschool children adhering to macrobiotic or other vegetarian regimens were studied. Length, subscapular skinfolds, and arm-muscle cirumferences differed from expectations. Dietary group and age, but not sex, were associated with these variations. Measurements were more likely to be depressed among children on a macrobiotic diet. Differences were significant among children twelve to thirty-five months of age for length and subscapular skinfolds and among children thirty-six months or older for arm circumference and subscapular skinfolds. Fewer vegetarian children were obese, and more were lean, than would be expected from norms.

Preschoolers on alternate life-style diets. Associations between size and dietary indexes with diets limited in types of animal foods.

One hundred nineteen vegetarian preschool children whose parents volunteered were studied in their homes. Length, weight, triceps and subscapular skinfolds, and head circumference were measured. Information on extensiveness of avoidances of animal food groups, parental dietary group, birth weight, parental heights, and the child's status with respect to breast feeding at the time of measurement was obtained by parental report. All infants under six months old were breast fed. More of the children's measurements were below the Harvard 50th percentiles for length and weight than would have been expected after six months of age, but not until then. Vegetarian children were also leaner (triceps and subscapular skinfolds) after six months of age than would be expected from Tanner-Whitehouse standards. Head circumferences were similar to standards and within normal limits at all ages. An association between smallness, lightness, and leanness was found among the vegetarians, with these characteristics being more pronounced among the older, non-breast fed, macrobiotic children on diets with limited variety in terms of animal food. While smallness and low weight-for-length were associated with leanness, largeness and high weight-for-length did not imply obesity in these subjects.

A flow-limited simulation model of isotopic water dilution.

A model of the kinetics of water metabolism is not synonymous with an anatomic model of body water pools. Quantitating the anatomic relations of pools of body water that are separable on a kinetic basis is very difficult, and these relations are influenced by the physiological state of the animal. A fifteen-pool, flow-limited simulation model of body water distribution and mixing was constructed based on literature values to study the relationship between anatomical and kinetic pools of body water. The blood dilution curve predicted by the model agrees well with dilution curves in the literature. Altering rumen water volume in the model does not alter the blood dilution curve. Segmenting anatomical pools of water on the basis of blood deuterium oxide (D2O) dilution curves is not a realistic goal. Total body water, independent of the physiological state of the animal, can be measured by D2O dilution after isotopic equilibration has been established if corrections are made for the amount of D2O that is lost prior to attaining equilibrium. The model can be used to search for dosing and sampling schemes that have the potential for fractionating anatomical pools of body water. Although the model is not predictive of any particular situation, it does provide a good base for researching kinetics of body water distribution and body composition.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) spinal cord and canal measurements in normal dogs.

The goal of this study was to establish Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reference ranges for spinal measurements in normal dogs. Forty dogs (1-10 kg, 11-20 kg, 21-30 kg, > 30 kg; 10 dogs per category) underwent spinal MRI. Measurements were performed on sagittal T2-W images at the level of the 4th thoracic vertebra (T4), the 9th thoracic vertebra (T9) and the 3rd lumbar vertebra (L3). Spinal canal diameter (mm) ranged from 6.07 ± 0.63 (1-10 kg) to 8.27 ± 1.15 (> 30 kg) at the level of T4; 6.55 ± 0.61 (1-10 kg) to 9.04 ± 1.26 (> 30 kg) at the level of T9; and 6.80 (6.47-7.00; 1-10 kg) to 9.00 (7.90-9.73; > 30 kg) at the level of L3. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in spinal canal diameter between groups. Mean spinal cord diameter (mm) ranged from 4.46 ± 0.51 (11-20 kg) to 4.70 ± 0.35 (1-10 kg) at the level of T4; 4.41 ± 0.50 (> 30 kg) to 4.85 ± 0.57 (1-10 kg) at the level of T9; and 4.52 ± 0.51 (> 30 kg) to 5.14 ± 0.68 (1-10 kg) at the level of L3. There were no significant differences in spinal cord diameter between groups. Spinal cord-to-spinal canal ratio varied significantly, ranging from 0.51 ± 0.08 (> 30 kg at L3) to 0.78 (0.69-0.80; 1-10 kg at T4) (P < 0.05). These findings are important when using MRI to evaluate patients with suspected diffuse spinal cord disease.

Microscopic anatomy of the lower respiratory tract of the grey short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica).

The respiratory tracts of seven grey short-tailed opossums were histologically examined. Six opossums were prepared by perfusion with buffered formalin. Opossum seven was perfused with gluteraldehyde. Samples taken from the respiratory passages and lungs of specimens 1-6 were stained with haematoxylin and eosin. A mixture of methylene and azure blue was used for specimen 7. The trachea and right and left principal bronchi are lined with a pseudostratified ciliated columnar epithelium with occasional goblet cells. The secondary and tertiary bronchi and the primary and secondary bronchioles are lined by a simple ciliated columnar epithelium. The terminal bronchioles and a portion of the respiratory bronchioles are lined by a simple ciliated cuboidal epithelium. The terminal portion of the respiratory bronchioles and the alveolar ducts are lined with simple squamous epithelium. Alveoli are lined by type I and II pneumocytes. Tracheal glands are present in the tela submucosa. The fibromusculocartilaginous tunic of the trachea consists of c-shaped cartilage rings and the trachealis muscle. A lamina muscularis mucosa begins in the intrapulmonary portion of the principal bronchus and continues into the respiratory bronchioles. Bronchial glands are present in the propria submucosa and tela submucosa of the principal bronchi. The musculocartilaginous tunic is localized to the extrapulmonary portion of the principal bronchus. The bronchial cartilages are irregular shaped plates and limited to the extrapulmonary portion of the principal bronchus. The visceral pleura is a simple squamous mesothelium covering the outer surface of the lung.

Reproductive tract vasculature of the female emu (dromaius novaehollandiae).

The arterial supply of the ovary and oviduct is provided by the ovarian artery, cranial oviductal artery, accessory cranial oviductal artery, middle oviductal artery, caudal oviductal artery and the medial and lateral vaginal arteries. These arteries supply various regions of the oviduct and are branches of either the left cranial renal artery, left external iliac artery, left middle renal artery, left lateral caudal artery or the left pudendal artery. The veins that drain the reproductive tract are satellite vessels to each artery that supplied the tract.

Macroscopic anatomy of the ringed seal [Pusa (Phoca) hispida] lower respiratory system.

This investigation serves to document the normal anatomical features of the lower respiratory tract of the ringed seal [Pusa (phoca) hispida]. Evaluation of embalmed specimens and tracheobronchial casts showed that the right lung of this seal consists of four lobes while the left has only three lobes. The ventral margins of the lungs do not reach the sternum causing them to form the boundary of the broad recessus costomediastinalis. Lung lobation corresponds with bronchial tree division. Pulmonary venous drainage includes right and left common veins draining ipsilateral cranial and middle lung lobes, and one common caudal vein draining both caudal lobes and the accessory lobe. The right and left pulmonary arteries divide into cranial and caudal branches at the level of the principal bronchus. The ringed seal has three tracheobronchial lymph nodes. The trachea has an average of 87 cartilages that exhibit a pattern of random anastomoses between adjacent rings. The trachea exhibits to a small degree the dorsoventrally flattened pattern that is described in other pinnipeds. The tracheal diameter is smaller than that of the canine.